PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 123, 16 February 1918, Page 6

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

-. The later developments of the dispute which h-as arisen in' Great Britain over the development of the inter-Allied Council are not clearly defined at time of writing, but thero seem to be some prospects of an agreement.' Reports that Sir William Robertson is about to resign or to undertake new duties are unconfirmed, and, on the other hand, it is asserted that he will remain at the War Office, though with powers in some respects modified.' Proposals to.cnlarge the functions of the inter-Allied Council do not in themselves reflect upon the personnel of the British or any other general _ staff. The position from this point of view was admirably stated by the New York Times in an article commenting upon Mr. Lloyd George's Paris speech, and upon views regarding unity expressed by President Wilson. "The incompetence which-the United States dreads," it observed, "is precisely that incompetence to which Mr. Lloyd George's' Paris speech, and It is not incompetence of generals or. statesmen,' but an artificial incompetence created by disunion of command. It is the incompetence of a deadlock. ' Military initiative has- been paralysed by the scattering of responsibility. _ Tho President warns our Allies that this paralysis must cease_; this is the demand of the British Premier recently; it seemed _ a demand that could not be realised because of partisan opposition at home and mutual jealousies of the Allies. Now that the President has spoken wo believe that those things will shrink into their proper proportions and that for that reason, if for no other, this is a historic day for Europe. -Not only can there be no suspicion of America's ; motives, but there is no avoiding her voicc. This country is the storehouse and bank of the Allies. Hitherto not a word has come from us in reminder of that fact. It has come now only because the occasion called for it. Nothing less could have Drought it forth, and now it comes with dignity. This nation is faccd with the prospect that the division of responsibility. which has checkmated the Allies for threo years shall continue, chiefly because of political,

opposition to Mr. Lloyd George and the susceptibilities of 'certain oflicers. That continuance means the loss of American lives, and the President, in that unanswerable way to which his countrymen are accustomed when he speaks, announces not only the interest of America in this matter, but its determination to protect its interest." The views thus clearly expounded have not commanded as ready an acceptance in Great Britain as was hoped for, but it still seems likely that they will ultimately pi'evail in Britain as in other Allied countries.

Particular interest attaches to the report of a French local attack in tho Champagne—an affair ofiicially described as a raid, but carried out evidently upon a considerable scale and with conspicuous .success— because , the assaulting troops were backed and supported by American batteries, which are stated to have done most effective, work, . American troops have,been,reported in action at different points in Lorraine, but there has been no previous mention of any American units in the Champagne. Probably the actual position is that American men are gaining practical experience on various parts of the front. In any. case the report under' notice is to be added to other evidence'that the Americans are making ready to take a vigorous part in the present year's campaign.

An increasing stir of Allied raiding is reported on the Western front, but events on a big scale have yet to take shape. _ The successful attack made by British aircraft on Offenburg, a railway junction southeast of Strassburg, is the latest move in a form of warfare which -is no doubt destined to develop rapidly in the near future. . Sketching its possibilities, the aviation correspondent of the London Observer remarked recently that while little less accurate than long-range artillery bombardment, and not justly to be with the latter simply because as yet it had been conducted in a small way, aerial attack gained enormously_ over- the older -methods in that it could be combined with- "It possesses this advantage indeed," ho added, "in greater measure than does naval bombardment. And this country does not offer to the Huns —taking into account aircraft of the present day and their capacities—so big'a target 'as we have in the towns on the Rhine; and not one of these knows the hour of the day or the night when it \vill be attacked. At Wcsel, Homberg, Duisberg, Dusseldorf, Cologne; Qbercasspl, Coblenz, Speyc.r, Karlsruhe, Strassburg, AltBreisach, and "no doubt - : at other places, the Rhine is spanned by railways. These bridges arc indispensable to the German organisation. Stop the traffic they convey, or cut the gathered threads of transport at tlftse po.ints for a week lor over, and the safety of the enemy would be seriously compromised. It would be our retort .to tho sub-

marine campaign. . . . Tho end. to be secured is, of course,- the serious dislocation of German mili-tary-industries and transport: secondarily, a condition of such intense apprehonsiveness throughout these regions that elaborate antiaircraft defences with numerous personnel and largo supplies will bo required, as well as large numbers of'defending,aeroplanes." ;

Files just received by mail throwsome light upon Germany's plaris : for the economic exploitation rof Russia. Summarising articles pub-, lished in the financial columns ;of German newspapers, the London Times states that' the first objects aro to obtain, imports from Russia, to prepare for exportation to Russia, and to set up a financial scheme. "The German Government," the Times adds, "began, the week before last (in December), by consulting representatives of -the trades interested in the importation' of metals, leather, skins, corn, and fodder. _It is intended to organise importation by employing the German trade- experts who hope to resume their trade connections in Russia, but everything that is, imported will'really'be imported for account of the-.German Government, which will control and ration distribution. Alt-hough'some exchange of commodities has' already begun at the front, great doubt is'expressed as. to the immediate prospects of importation on ' any large scale, especially as regards corn and metals. It is evident that - the Germans are particularly anxious to get metals. regards German exports to Russia, there is no suggestion that Germany can in tho immediate future spare large supplies, but it is suggested that she may export 'medicines. a,nd agricultural machinery." .